I am currently reading through Genesis 18 and
wanted to talk about something that really surprised me and caught my eye. In
this chapter God is very angry with a city that is sinful and has plans to
destroy it and clean it out of all wickedness. Abraham feels a sense of sorrow
for the people of this city and he begs the Lord to show them mercy.
First
the Lord says if there are fifty righteous people at this city then he will not
destroy it. Then Abraham asks if there could be just forty five righteous people
in the city for the Lord to show mercy? The Lord then responded, “I will not
destroy it for forty-five people’s sake. Abraham followed up again and asked
the Lord if there could be only forty righteous at the city to show mercy and
the Lord again said “I will not do it for forty’s sake. Abraham continued to
ask, and this time he asked if the Lord would show mercy if there were only
thirty full of righteousness. The Lord responded and yet again showed mercy
saying “ I will not do it, if I find thirty there.” Abraham asked yet again,
“Lord, suppose there shall be twenty found there?” The Lord, being full of
mercy responded to Abraham telling him “I will not destroy it for twenty’s
sake.” For one last time Abraham asked the Lord if he would show mercy to this
city if only TEN of them were righteous. Again, the Lord showed mercy and
agreed that if there are only ten people of the city that are righteous then he
will not destroy it.
I
had read this passage before and found myself yet again so surprised by how the
Lord showed infinite mercy to this city. The same way that Abraham continued to
beg for mercy for this city reminded me of how in the film Wings Of Desire the Angels continuously are watching over people
and in a very similar way, begging for mercy so that they will not fall to
brokenness and death. It also reminds me of the incredible power that God has;
that he can literally destroy anything on his own command. However, with all of
that power shows us how merciful and full of love he is too. In today’s
society, who is to say that we are not just as broken? It is a great reminder
that there very well could be angels up there begging the Lord to show mercy to
us and we could very well because some of those righteous who believe in God
that are the reason the Lord agrees to be merciful.
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